Swiftly they rode, yet in such wise that each knight must mourn his fate-- For kinsman and knightly brethren, in strength of foeman's hate, In strife had come together; and he who this joust should win 25 His joy were the pledge of sorrow, and his deed must he count for sin-- And each right hand it smote so surely that the comrades and foemen twain, With horse and with goodly harness, fell prone on the grassy plain. And then in such wise they bear them, with their swords such blows they smite, That their shields are hewn and riven, and cloven in deadly fight. 30 And the splinters of shields, and the grass blades, were mingled upon the ground, And far other the look of the meadow ere their strife had its ending found; And too long must they wait for a daysman--'twas early when first they fought, And the hours sped by, and no man an end to their conflict brought, And no man was there beside them--Will ye hear how, the self-same day, 35 King Arthur's knights to the army of King Gramoflanz made their way? On a plain by the sea he camped him--On the one side of the ground Flowed the Sabbins, and over against it the Poinzacleins its ending found. And the plain it was strongly guarded; Rosche Sabbins the citadel, With towers and with walls deep-moated, defended the fourth side well. 40 And the host on the plain lay stretching its length for a mile and more, And half a mile broad had they deemed it--As the messengers toward it bore, Many unknown knights rode forward, archers, squires, with arms and spear, And behind them, with waving banners, did the mighty host draw near.